The Day I Saw Your Heart

Dysfunctional father-daughter relationship movie
"The Day I Saw Your Heart" (2011 release from France) is the most recent (July, 2012) release in the monthly Film Movement series of foreign and indie films. Please note that the original title of this movie is "Et Soudain, Tout Le Monde Me Manque" (which translates as "And Suddenly, I Miss Everyone").

Michel Blanc stars as Eli, who recently remarried and is expecting a baby with his new (and much younger) wife. Eli has 2 grown daughters, Dom(inique), who is looking to adopt a baby with her husband, and Ju(stine), the free-spirit who cannot stand her dad. Dom and Ju are appalled that their dad is to become a father again, given the terrible job he did with them. Or did he? In the first half hour of the movie, we witness what a complete jerk Eli is, and the toll it takes on everyone around him ("his loved ones" would be an overstatement).

But not everything is what it appears to be, and as the movie progresses we see signs of change in both Eli and Ju. To tell you...

The Foibles of Family: A French Charmer With Laughs And Heart
Jennifer Devoldere's dramedy "The Day I Saw Your Heart" is an offbeat combination of unbelievably quirky characters, farcical situations mixed with real life concerns, and overt sentimentality. There's not much about its plot that rings particularly true, but the underlying alienation that can exist within families grounds the movie in a way that make it virtually impossible not to respond to. It's very much like a grown-up sitcom that packs a surprisingly emotional punch. Perhaps I'm not describing the picture well. I enjoyed it very much. But my head groaned at some of the film's contrivances while my heart embraced its overall mood and message. It probably helped matters that the film boasts a strong and likable cast. Led by the lovely Melanie Laurent (who I still think was robbed of an Oscar nod for Inglorious Basterds), this French trifle has heart and charm to spare.

The movie introduces us to a typical family of comic dysfunction, the Dhreys. It soon becomes...

Loved This Film
The Day I Saw Your Heart is what is right and wonderful about independent film. This is a warm beautiful and funny film. I didn't want this film to end.

Everybody in this film is a little bit crazy, some more than others. Dad, Eli Dhrey, is the craziest but yet the one that loves everybody the most. At one point in the film Eli is talking with a doctor and says, if he was a doctor, he would call himself Dr. Dre. This is funny on so many levels; none of the least is that his last name in French is pronounced Dray, just like the good rap doctor. The film is full of non-sequiturs, people doing incredibly unexpected things. It is hard to imagine that a film in French with English subtitles would translate into a good dozen very funny jokes. The film is genuinely funny up until the day Justine sees the heart. This is always a delicate point in a film, the conflict is built and then the film changes direction to resolve the conflict. The director did an amazing job making that...

Click to Editorial Reviews

Hospitalite

My House Is Your House: A Japanese Offering With Subtle Humor, Domestic Intrigue, And Bold Originality
The Japanese film "Hospitalite" has a gentle quirkiness that is rather disarming. I knew nothing about the film before settling in to watch it and, to a large degree, the film thwarted my every expectation. What begins as a lightweight family drama morphs into a twisty game of manipulation before settling into a true celebration of life. Seriously, you've got no idea where this story will end up from where it begins. And that's always a positive from my perspective. Elements of drama, black comedy and even slapstick take turns in this tale that gets increasingly odd as it progresses. But the odder it got, the more charmed I became. I can understand how some might find the beginning too subtle as it establishes the characters and their relationships with gentle humor, but it is exactly this more mild mannered approach that really sells the big finale. And the final section of the film is quite big, quite unexpected, quite jubilant and surprisingly meaningful as well...

Highly Entertaining!
Original, Funny and Thoughtful! Hospitalite is a drama-comedy with an enjoyable plot and an amazing cast! I'm a very difficult viewer who needs to be entertained but I actually really enjoyed the slow pace of the film. I felt I could better follow the evolution of each character and feel incredibly connected to them. Each character has something sincere and crazy that makes you never want to leave them and the `'family'' they form. One of the best films I have seen in a while!

Hospitality Taken To The Absurd
Mikio Kobayashi (Kenji Yamauchi) runs a printing business on the ground floor of his home. His second and very young wife Natsuki (Kiki Sugino) handles the financial affairs of the shop and looks after his daughter Eriko (Erika Ono). Into their lives comes a manipulative con man/blackmailer named Kagawa (Kanji Furutachi) claiming to be the son of an old friend of Kobayashi's father. Kagawa rapidly takes over the job of a sick employee and gets room and board provided too. Kagawa then also brings his wife to live in the house, the wife says she is from Brazil but one has doubts about this statement as she later says she is from Bosnia. Her English sounds American. What follows is that Kobayashi's life and the life of his family is turned inside out and upside down. Although this movie starts off subtly and slowly it picks up speed as it goes along, secrets are revealed and the plot thickens. I found this film to be primarily an outing and criticism about Japanese xenophobia. The...

Click to Editorial Reviews

Free Men

Survival and Honor in Time of War
Isma

Corpo Celeste

"CAPTIVATING, COMPELLING, POWERFULLY MOVING!"
A young girl at the age of thirteen, prepares for Confirmation, but must deal with many challenges. Marta must deal with family problems, her own issues on religion, struggles of adolescence, and much more. She becomes brave and fearless to stand up for what she believes in, which causes problems with the Priest and her family. She struggles not only with her identity, but with peer pressure as she makes many attempts to cope. The story is compelling, heartfelt, and entertaining. Acting Performance Superb. Highly Recommended!

4.5 stars... outstanding coming of age and religion drama
First things first, I am a huge fan of the Film Movement library of foreign and indie movie, and this is the most recent (May, 2012) release. Film Movement releases films in the US on DVD that otherwise would never find an audience here.

"Corpo Celeste", roughly translated as "Celestial Body" (2011 release from Italy; 99 min.) brings the tender coming of age tale of 13 yr. old Marta, who recently relocated from Switzerland back to the family roots in southern Italy. She is preparing for Confirmation, a religious passage-of-age not unlike say the Bar/Bat Mitzvah in the Jewish faith, and the pressure to "fit in" with the rest of her Confirmation class is huge, not to mention the troubles at home (mon being non-functionally always in bed with some sickness, and disagreements with her 18 yr. old sister). There are no huge plot developments, we are simply watching Marta coping and getting ready for the day of Confirmation, as she struggles to find her identity. Religion plays a...

A Contemplative Italian Coming-Of-Age Story About Finding Personal Spirituality Amidst Organized Religion
It's so rare to see any serious contemplation of religion in movies today that the subject always feels fresh. The Italian film "Corpo Celeste," however, does not present itself as a message movie. It strikes a very personal tone as one young girl at the brink of womanhood tries to understand how religion might (or might not) be incorporated into her life. In a culture where religion is such a dominating force, 13-year old Marta might easily be dismissed as a trouble maker. But with a clear eye, she sees not the idea of religious practice but its implication. Instead of blindly accepting prescribed doctrine, she seems to be on a spiritual journey of her own. And her quiet reflection might be quite a bit more meaningful. I had heard certain criticism leveled at "Corpo Celeste" for its portrayal of the Catholic Church. Some say the portrait is too broad, but I heartily disagree. I think it presents the individuals involved as full fledged characters struggling to retain meaning...

Click to Editorial Reviews

Almost in Love

A Bittersweet Love Story
A "slice of life' movie, somewhat informally done but that made it more realiastic in my view. It made me so happy to be past that point in my life and feel so sad for the youth in the throes of love and finding a mate. Well worth watching.





Click to Editorial Reviews

Furry Vengeance

Awesome Family Fun!!!
I thought this movie was cute and perfect to watch with your kids. I honestly don't know why it has such low ratings. It's very funny. Brendan Fraser stars as a real estate developer named Dan Sanders who is planning to tear down the forest and build a mall. The animals of the forest soon decide to take matters into their own paws and make Dan's life miserable, until he realizes what they want. Dan's wife, Tammy doesn't believe him about the animals, and insists that he gets therapy. During an eco friendly fair, the animals will have their revenge against the man who is making Dan destroy the forest. If you love comedies, and children's movies, you'll love FURRY VENGEANCE!!!

Just enjoy it.
You buy your ticket. You park your logic and adult brain at the door. As you enter, you pull your 6th grade humor
back from the netherlands of childhood. And you just go with the absurdness of it all. And laugh. And remember that if animals could, they would. Enjoy.

Cute
Very cute family movie. It's funny and entertaining, keeps you laughing. My kids loves it. Brendan Fraiser and Brooke Shields were good choices for this!

Click to Editorial Reviews

Married in Spandex

You're welcome, Mom and Dad.
This is a must-see for every person that saw Leslie Hall's wedding website and dreamed of the over-the-top extravaganza that would await them if only they were courageous enough to commit to being so out there in front of Grandma. I was surprised how much the film included the realistic glimpses of awkwardness when an awesome wacky idea was carried out to completion. The story was touching and real, complete with doubtful friends, reluctantly supportive family, and a very cute love story. You're welcome, Mom and Dad, that I didn't choose an Iowa wedding (but I wanted to)!

Real People
This movie has all the warmth, humor, stress, and honesty of every day people planning a wedding day that expresses who they are. The families and friends are lovely and imperfect and the story is well told and adventurous. It's a refreshing look at marriage and the ceremony that surrounds it.

awesome honest story
This is an amazing movie with an honest story that anyone can identify with. Hilarious couple (and maybe even more hilarious family) captured beautifuly. Enjoy!

Click to Editorial Reviews